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Summary List of stories Phase II Night: Ashes, Metal, And Corruption << chapter 45 Chapter 46 of 75 Insecurities And Aspirations chapter 47 >> << previous scene Scene 2 of 2 next scene >> Location Participants Time Summary Prologue | Phase I | Phase II | Epilogue 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 46 | 47 | 48 | 49 | 50 | 51 | 52 | 53 | 54 | 55 | 56 | 57 | 58 | 59 | 60 61 | 62 | 63 | 64 | 65 | 66 | 67 | 68 | 69 | 70 | 71 | 72 | 73 | 74 | 75 Text Scrivener and Luna headed home in awkward quiet, Twilight Sparkle at Scrivener's other side with Antares riding on her back. It was late afternoon, and Luna could feel a distinct nibbling at her nerves, like something was trying to warn her instincts about... well... something. She wasn't sure what... she just felt like something, somewhere, was wrong. It didn't help how things had ended up going at the library: a brooding Discord was worse than an obnoxious or insulting Discord, and he had quickly dragged Antares down into a fit of depression with him. Scrivener had taken Antares off to take a nap in Celestia's room, but instead had ended up sitting with him and reading quietly to the colt for more than an hour, helping him cheer up a little, but mostly just being there for his son. His poor, pained son, who seemed to feel the emotions of others so clearly, whose understanding could be a sword that cut both ways at times like this. Near the end of the discussion, Odin had turned to Twilight, surprising the violet mare before he said quietly: "Some time ago, you asked me about my thoughts on Gymbr... on what the doll could be. I've thought it over for a long time, and have come to a strange conclusion, my trusted friends... "I have taken much into consideration: Gymbr's protectiveness of Antares Mīrus, his ability to influence the world around him..." Odin's eyes flicked to Twilight's collar, which neither he nor Celestia had mentioned, and it made the violet mare blush fiercely when she realized they had clearly figured out what it was and perhaps even how she had gotten it. "His appearance and indestructibility... and of course the fact that the Norns hate him. Hate him so violently and vehemently that I believe they must fear him. And the only thing the Norns truly fear are things that should not exist, that their powers cannot see or affect." Scrivener grimaced a little at this, shifting nervously before Odin shook his head slowly and said softly: "Brynhild and Scrivener Blooms... how often have you had your dark dreams? You are powerful souls, with powerful imaginations, bound and wrapped up tightly together, giving vent in the dark and deep and uncanny places to... things that others would hide and repress. Brynhild, you yourself know that if given enough voice, treated long enough as something on its own, something apart... even the most frail of passions may grow its own sentience, take on its own life. "I have heard Discombobulation's story, told to you all by Gymbr. Freya was kind enough to share the meat of it with me in letters and dialogues." Odin gestured to her calmly, closing his eyes. "I believe that this fortified the creature's power and existence. I believe he was helped along by other forces in some way or another that will only come to light when Gymbr desires to reveal its true nature. "I believe it is a Tulpa. A thought-form manifested into physical reality by... some means or another. I believe that since it first entered this reality, it has been growing steadily in power, as more belief is poured into it, as more and more, it has expanded its influence. Why it first appeared to Freya? I do not know, but if I had to guess, I would say to subtly slip itself closer into our ranks, making it feel like only coincidence that all of us here recognized it, reacted it, felt... something, when we touched it. Why it takes the form of a child's doll? An easier question to guess at the answer of: it desires to be close to us, and most of all, close to Antares. Because even if it is the darkness, not just of Brynhild, not just of Scrivener Blooms, but perhaps the evils that we have all committed, given life and form and shape and substance... it desires to protect first what is most important to it." There had been silence... and so many implications. And all of it based on whether or not Odin was right... something impossible to know at this junction in time. All they could do was keep pressing forwards for now, and hope for the best. Hope that even if this thing was... darkness, deeper and heavier than even Nightmare Moon... it would continue to serve a purpose. To help them... and as they walked along, Luna and Scrivener found themselves almost praying that it would help them, that it would continue to work to protect their family... that it wasn't working some hidden agenda or evil angle against them. Yet as they strode quickly down the path back to the cottage, Antares began to fidget on Twilight's back, and Luna felt that strange instinct again, that whisper of something in her mind, that something was wrong. Even Twilight seemed to feel it, looking nervously at Luna as the starry-maned mare grimaced before Antares whispered: "No, Gymbr... that's not right..." Luna and Scrivener traded sharp looks, and Twilight looked up worriedly before the sapphire-coated mare said quickly over her shoulder: "Twilight, Scrivy and I are going to run ahead. If it is but a bad dream, then we shall feel like fools... but I do not want to dally if... if..." "Go!" Twilight whispered it, and yet the word sounded like a gunshot in the still forest, and Luna and Scrivener both broke immediately into a sprint down the path, feeling rollicking worries, anxieties, fears running rampant through their minds as they pushed forwards, hoping against hope that nothing was wrong... It took them less than ten minutes, Luna charging for the front door before flicking her horn to tear it open and bolting into the hallway, Scrivener close on her heels before both ponies skidded to a halt. They almost fell over each other, something that would have been comical any other day as Luna moaned low in her throat, staring in shock at the sight of Scarlet Sage and Apple Bloom both sprawled out, unconscious, on the floor... and overturned near Scarlet Sage was the pot containing the blood elixir, next to a shattered porcelain bowl. A second bowl, full of the cold, now-sludgy mixture, sat in front of Apple Bloom, a spoon buried in the mess but the mare rasping with as much difficulty as Scarlet Sage. Scrivener cursed under his breath as he stepped towards the earth pony mare as Luna hurried to their daughter, inspecting her quickly and trembling as she touched over her body, brushing drying foam away from her jaws as she whispered: "Why? This... Scarlet Sage would never do such... such madness!" Scrivener looked up towards her... and his eyes locked on the sight of Gymbr, sitting past Luna on the countertop. He paled a bit, and Luna's eyes widened before she snarled as her head whipped around, electricity sparking through her mane as she stepped forwards and shouted furiously: "Wretched thing! What did thou have to do with this!" She swung a hoof out, knocking the toy from the counter to the kitchen floor, and a note fluttered down from beneath it. It caught Luna's attention even through her rage for some reason, as she snagged it out of the air and glanced over it... then stared in disbelief as she whispered: "'We left a pot of tomato soup for...' Oh wretched abomination! Oh damned and unwelcome fiend!" Luna snarled and leapt around the divider, throwing the note away and smashing both her hooves down into the Gymbr toy hard enough to crack the floor tiles beneath it as she shouted furiously at the doll: "What madness is this? That could have killed her! Does thou want to see her die, is that it, does thou-" "Mom..." whispered a weak voice, and Scrivener hurriedly stepped around Apple Bloom's still-unconscious form to his daughter, as Scarlet Sage opened her eyes and coughed weakly a few times. Luna trembled, looking at the Pegasus, and then she cursed and picked up Gymbr, flinging it hard into the back door before turning and hurrying to her daughter's other side, as Scrivener gently helped her sit up. Scarlet Sage coughed a few times, then rubbed slowly at her throat, trembling weakly before closing her eyes and grasping at her skull, whimpering a little. Luna and Scrivener embraced her tightly from other side, and then the Pegasus looked up suddenly, sharply, rasping through her pain: "Red! Is she okay?" "Yeah, she's still unconscious, though." Scrivener said quietly, and when Scarlet Sage trembled, the charcoal stallion carefully slipped to the side, letting her see past to where Apple Bloom was laying on her side. "She's breathing regularly, though, it's okay. It doesn't look like she ate as much as you must have..." "It's my fault..." the Pegasus whispered, trembling and closing her eyes tightly, and both her parents looked at her before she looked up with teary eyes and said weakly: "We... did a blood vow last night... she... she didn't have any, but I insisted that we should and... oh god, it wasn't... it wasn't tomato soup was it?" "She... thou and she connected thyselves..." Luna stared at her daughter for a moment, and then she swallowed and shook her head hurriedly when Scarlet Sage nodded miserably. "'Tis... 'tis not important for now, we shall discuss it when thou art ready and feeling better. No, that was a mixture of demonic blood, Ambrosia, and... and Kvasir's blood. And thou, as a Blood Seer, must have..." "The... the memories. The images..." Scarlet Sage reached up, trembling hard and gritting her teeth as she touched her forehead, shivering violently. "Gymbr... I should have known something was wrong because Gymbr was sitting right there but... I was too elated, I was... I thought... and so hungry, it smelled so good... Mom, Dad, I'm sorry..." "No, don't apologize. Don't apologize." Scrivener said empathetically, reaching up and squeezing her shoulder slowly. "Here, come on, let's lay you down..." Scarlet Sage trembled, leaning on her parents heavily as they guided her over to their bedding, then Scrivener gently shook Apple Bloom awake as Luna hurried towards the kitchen to check on Gymbr. But the doll has vanished for now... and Luna cursed under her breath before looking down as a bolt of irrational, wild fear ran through her and she looked back and forth, almost expecting an attack... But there was nothing: the toy was gone, likely fleeing for some safer place until things had cooled down. Luna cursed under her breath as she turned to head back into the den room, and found Apple Bloom was awake and groggy... but she was now curled up with Scarlet Sage, and Scrivener was cleaning up the mess from the late lunch the two mares had tried to share. By all of Asgard, I shan't let this go unpunished though, Gymbr... Yes... we will teach the creature not to intrude upon our domain... Nightmare Moon whispered in her mind, and for once it wasn't unwelcome as Luna shivered and gritted her teeth, then turned around to fetch a bucket and cloth to help Scrivener clean up. When Twilight arrived with Antares, the first thing the foal did was bolt down the corridor and all-but-plow into Scarlet Sage and Apple Bloom. They both winced, and then Antares threw himself against his big sister, she hugged him fiercely back as he looked tearfully up at Apple Bloom, trying to form words but not quite managing it until the earth pony mare finally hugged both him and Scarlet Sage, bowing her head forwards silently. Luna explained quietly what had happened as Scrivener finished cleaning up, then the starry-maned mare slipped past to head to her room. She checked on Discombobulation – sleeping, shivering a little pale, but he had also managed to make himself a mountain of blankets and pillows she didn't remember being in his apartment before, so he wasn't in as awful a shape as she had feared – and then took a moment just to breathe before leaving. Scrivener had already fetched a blanket for the young mares, and Twilight was writing a short letter to Applejack, letting her know that her younger sibling would be staying over another night because of a small accident. Luna smiled wryly at how quickly everyone was responding to what had happened, glad they were working well together but a little disheartened by how many times they had gone through this dance to be so good at it now. Luna quietly strode over to sit by the bedding, and Scarlet Sage and Apple Bloom both looked up at her as Antares dozed between them, the foal tuckered out from the travels, the ups and downs of the day, and his emotional outburst. She gazed at them and smiled faintly, then leaned down, asking softly: "Art thou sure thou art alright? I am glad to fetch thee anything either of thee may desire." "No, we're fine... ain't we?" Apple Bloom couldn't help but smile, clearly trying to reassure herself as much as Scarlet Sage, and then she sighed and dropped her head, mumbling: "I'm gonna catch hell for this one from big sister for sure, though... and even worse, Cowlick, when I don't show up for work. Don't think that either of them will ever let me live this down..." "Oh, worry not about Cowlick. Twilight, will thou pen a letter to her as well? Tell her that I am enlisting Apple Bloom's aid for a special project or some-such." Luna nodded with a smile, and then she glared when Twilight looked at her disbelievingly. "What? 'Tis not as if it is not true, I consider my daughter very special and her relationship is a project I wish to nurture as best I can. And furthermore, there is no need to tell nosy, gossipy Cowlick every little detail of every little thing. The girls may tell her when they are ready to, that is all." "Thanks, Luna. I think." Apple Bloom said gratefully, blushing deep red all the same as Scarlet Sage smiled and looked up, and at this, Twilight sighed and nodded, smiling faintly as she turned back to write another letter. The next hour or so passed in quiet, simply allowing the young mares to recover their strength... and then, finally Scarlet Sage sat up a little as Antares stirred, then quietly clambered to his hooves and made his way off the bedding to stumble over to his father and plow gently into him. Scrivener smiled despite himself as his son looked blearily up at him, then gave a small smile in return before the stallion said softly: "Come on then. I'll give you a shower, Antares, clean you up." The colt nodded and smiled a little, and Scrivener gently led the child off to the bathroom. Luna gazed after them, then she shook her head before turning her eyes over the mares in the room, smiling a little. "'Tis funny how Scrivener Blooms does so much of the mare's work, is it not? But I am glad he is so wonderful with Antares, to say the very least. I begin to understand more and more that raising a young child... 'tis a difficult, daunting task." She gazed softly at Scarlet Sage, who smiled a little and shook her head, replying quietly. "You're far too hard on yourself, Mom. You really are... you and Dad are great parents." "Aye, great parents who have half-encouraged thee into making a blood vow with Apple Bloom. I am sure in some way we are to blame for helping influence thee towards this end." Luna replied softly, and the two mares both blushed a little as Twilight looked over them, studying them curiously. "But 'tis... not as important as how thou art both doing right now. Has the pain faded? The nausea passed?" "Yeah. I feel better. I think... that actually scares me more than feeling sick, though." Scarlet Sage smiled faintly, glancing up and rubbing at her face slowly with a hoof. "I know my powers... everything's centered around blood. And if that was a mixture of... all those things, meant to help turn Pinkamena into a demon..." "Eavesdropper, thou hast been listening in on my conversations with Scrivy and Twilight!" Luna huffed, and Scarlet Sage blushed as she and Apple Bloom traded embarrassed looks, but then the winged unicorn sighed and mumbled: "Well, 'tis not as if I ever lied about my plans, anyway. And thou art... thou art both old enough to be treated as adults, and to understand these things, aye." She quieted, looking down for a moment before glancing back up and continuing quietly: "But it will not have the same effect on thee as it will on Pinkamena. Not just because thou art a Blood Seer, but because she is a half-demon. Does thou understand?" "At least a little, anyway." The Pegasus nodded after a moment, giving a small laugh, and then she traded a look with Apple Bloom again, and Luna couldn't help but smile faintly as she understood what they were doing: communicating silently. Perhaps not as clearly as she and Scrivener could, but still, they were sharing something back and forth... and admittedly, Luna was impressed by it. She wasn't entirely sure if she could approve yet – partly because she still worried that she and Scrivener were somehow responsible for pushing Apple Bloom and Scarlet Sage into doing this – but at the same time, it reassured her that there was more than a blood vow empowered by Scarlet Sage's abilities connecting them. "About... about me and Red..." "I'll... let me, Scarlet. I was the one who suggested it. Who pushed for it." Apple Bloom said quietly, sitting up a bit, and Luna cocked her head curiously as she looked across at the two young mares. They both sat up straighter... and then the young earth pony took a breath before she looked across at Luna and murmured: "I don't know a lot about magic and stuff. I know about... apples, I know about putting things together, and I know about getting stuff to work properly, whether it's growing things or making stuff move. And I wanna say that I was the one who pushed for this, really wanted this. "I just... don't want anypony blaming Scarlet Sage for this. We wanna be together, and... none of this is her fault." Apple Bloom blushed awkwardly, looking down and mumbling: "This is a lot harder than I thought." Scarlet Sage laughed a little, reaching a hoof up and wrapping it around Apple Bloom's shoulders before she smiled over at her mother. "I think what Apple Bloom is trying to say is that... if we made a mistake, we made a good one together, and we're right beside each other, just like you said we should be, Mom. And if we didn't make a mistake, well... we're together. We're going to be together, through thick and thin, even though... you know, we both know we still have time before..." "Oh, thou art both boring." Luna huffed, but she smiled a little all the same, looking back and forth between them. "Why aren't thou both demanding that... thou art allowed to move into Ponyville together or... I know not, something less boring than this. Something I can argue with, we are supposed to shout and argue, are we not?" The Pegasus sighed tiredly as Twilight laughed despite her best efforts not to, and Apple Bloom grinned a little before she said finally: "Well, can we move in together somewhere?" "Neither of thee could afford it, so 'tis a moot argument, in any event." Luna replied cheerfully, and Scarlet Sage rolled her eyes before blushing furiously as the winged unicorn added mildly: "But thou art welcome to live here as long as thou likes, provided thou do not awaken Antares with thy grinding and bumping." "Mom! We haven't even... I... mom!" Scarlet Sage shook her head out violently as Apple Bloom looked torn between horror and withholding giggles. "Oh, come on, don't encourage her!" "Hey, it could be a lot worse. Cowlick is way worse than Luna, and I gotta work with her most days." Apple Bloom said pointedly, and Luna looked insulted by this before the earth pony mare added hurriedly: "Not that you ain't uh... plenty... offensive? Creative? Uh... scary?" "Scary works." Twilight remarked, and Luna glared at her before the violet mare added softly: "Just do me a favor... remember what we talked about before, and remember that... you're both growing up. It's not that I doubt in you or your love... it's not that I think you rushed into this, either. You've both had a lot of time to think about things and... no offense or anything, but it wasn't really hard to tell you two were kind of seeing each other on and off for a while before this." "Told you so." Apple Bloom mumbled, and Scarlet Sage shouldered her lightly. It reminded Luna almost of herself and Scrivener, and she found this thought oddly reassuring despite the pitfalls it could potentially have, too: Luna was the first to admit her relationships often were a little weird, after all. Then Apple Bloom looked up, asking finally: "I hope this... ain't too strange to ask then, though, but since you're okay with me and you're okay with... us and I think you're okay with... what we did and... you know... could you... maybe... train me, like you been training Scarlet Sage?" Luna perked at this, leaning forwards curiously as she cocked her head, and Apple Bloom blushed as she glanced down awkwardly. "Well, I mean. I picked up a little stuff here and there, but I ain't ever really been... taught how to defend myself or anything. But Scarlet Sage, well... it used to be me protecting her from the bullies but now she's the one stepping up when things go south. Sure, I mean, I know how to use some of Cowlick's scary toys, but... you know." "'Tis nothing like the assurance of knowing thy hoof can do plenty of damage when 'tis the only weapon thou has at thy disposal, aye." Luna nodded thoughtfully, rubbing at the underside of her chin before she said meditatively: "Thou art an adult but I need thou to speak to Applejack about it, or Big Mac. Preferably Big Mac, now that I think about it... I would rather have Applejack angry at me than thy handsome brother whom I am so very tempted to-" "Luna." Twilight said flatly, and Luna sighed and rolled her eyes, glowering over at her as Apple Bloom made a face and Scarlet Sage only sighed tiredly. Then the sapphire mare shook herself out once, grumbling before meeting Apple Bloom's eyes and becoming more serious. "Aye. But I am serious. I will train thee either way but thou must tell thy siblings." Apple Bloom nodded hesitantly, then she asked finally: "Not that I doubt you or anything or... you know, think it's silly, but... why is it so important that I tell 'em?" The sapphire mare smiled a little at this, her starry mane twisting quietly backwards as she said softly: "Because thou art going to be hurt in this training, physically and most likely emotionally. I shall press thee and pressure thee and temper thy mettle as I must. And this is a very serious thing thou asks for, Apple Bloom... thou art asking a Valkyrie for combat training." The earth pony mare winced a little and nodded awkwardly, and then Luna sniffed and added cheerfully: "And it also makes it clear 'tis not my responsibility what happens to thee whilst we train, and more importantly, that it was thine own choice, not mine. And thus thy family shan't be able to hold me accountable for anything that happens." "You're so generous, Mom." Scarlet Sage said dryly, and Luna nodded agreeably before glancing down the hall when the door opened, and a soaked, grumpy-looking Scrivener and giggling Antares came out, the foal running hurriedly down the hall to smack loudly into Luna's side and make her wheeze when his head collided directly into her kidney. She half-sprawled over, and Antares hugged her tightly, still wet from the shower. Scrivener smiled despite himself as he strode into the room, and then he sighed when the young mares both looked at him with amusement, rubbing awkwardly at his soaked mane. "Don't blame me. We really need a proper bath, Luna, especially since Antares likes to play in the water and... gets a little overexcited." "We have the hot tub. We can dunk him in the hot tub." Luna sat back, picking Antares up and hugging him against her body, unmindful of how wet he was as she leaned down and nuzzled him firmly before reaching up to comb his messy mane back with a smile. "And look! 'Tis already almost time to get his mane trimmed again!" Scrivener shook his head with amusement, and then he began to turn before Apple Bloom asked him curiously: "Scrivener Blooms, uh, how long did it take you to... you know, become... you know?" Scrivener looked over his shoulder at her, then he turned around and reached up to brush his wet mane out of his eyes before he shrugged thoughtfully, saying finally: "Hard question, Apple Bloom, because of how I'm soulbound with Luna... sometimes, I don't even know when I'm accessing into her memories and abilities, it just happens on instinct. And even then, I'm still more of a scrambler than I am a fighter." He smiled a bit, and then shook his head and said thoughtfully, looking down: "But after... after a year or so of training with Luna, I was tougher, stronger than I ever remember being in my entire life. And it might sound a little funny – or, you know, evil – but I was happier than I'd ever been in my entire life, too." "Yeah?" Apple Bloom smiled a little, tilting her head curiously, and Scrivener shrugged awkwardly as he smiled back at the young mare. "Yeah." he replied finally, then his eyes roved to Luna as he continued in a softer voice: "Of course, I had a lot of reasons to be happy, but... I can say with full confidence part of it was learning what Luna taught me. I felt stronger, faster and lighter on my hooves... better about myself. And, funny as it may sound, one thing Luna likes to get across clearly is that we don't just pummel whoever annoys us. Even though that's what she always does." "I am permitted to, I am the mare in charge." Luna said pompously, tilting her head upwards and looking cheerful, and then she smiled over at Apple Bloom. "But aye. 'Tis very important to remember. We save using our hooves on those who truly deserve it." Twilight smiled a little, adding quietly: "Just feel fortunate you're an earth pony, and I really mean that. Even more, that you're used to hard work from the years on the farm... when Luna first started to train me, I could barely keep up. And worse, she always insisted on horn fencing." "'Tis an art form! And furthermore, thou art a fine fencer. And one day, my son, handsome Antares Mīrus, will be a master of the craft as well." Luna smiled warmly, gazing down into her foal's eyes as the colt giggled quietly, before Luna looked up and nodded firmly. "It may be strange, my friends, my family... but it is one of the greatest things I feel I can pass down to my son. And with it discipline, honor, respect, and courage." She softened, kissing the foal's forehead gently, and Scrivener smiled softly as he strode up beside her before throwing a wet foreleg around her shoulders, and Luna laughed. Twilight smiled then rolled her eyes when Luna grinned over at her, but gladly joined them as well, collar glinting around her neck... and Apple Bloom and Scarlet Sage both smiled as they sat back, feeling welcome and happy in the embrace of this odd little family they had together. Category:Transcript Category:Story